Tag Archive for: technical service training

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“They Don’t Pay Me to Look Good” in Service Delivery

service tech trainingAt one of our Proactive Service® workshops, one of the techs – let’s call him John – told me, “They don’t pay me to look good, they pay me to fix things!”.  We were discussing the importance of how we personally present ourselves at the customer’s facilities.  John, who looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days and was wearing a well-worn company T shirt, was obviously not convinced about the importance of appearance in service delivery.  It wasn’t the first time I had heard this.

“Actually John”, I replied, “they pay you for both – fixing things and looking good.”  John was not convinced.

I asked John if he had been to a wedding recently and it turns out he was just the month before.

“What did you wear?” I asked. Read more

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Step 4 of a Proactive Service® Culture – A Clear Opportunity Process

Jim Baston service manager trainingThe fourth step in creating a Proactive Service® culture for your field service team is to ensure that there is a clear and consistent process for handling opportunities from the field.  Without a clear process, we leave the follow-up largely to chance and create the potential for frustration and resentment on the part of our technicians and customers.

Nothing will stop a technician from making recommendations to a customer more quickly than poor or inconsistent follow-up by the rest of the company’s staff.  A technician that makes a recommendation that requires follow-up by others (salesperson or manager for example) and which is not followed up, is unlikely to continue to do so.  But worse than that, lack of follow-up can have serious consequences.

I worked with one service firm that did not have a formal process for handling opportunities from the field.  I interviewed one of their technicians and he related a story that highlights the problems that can occur.  The technician had found a problem with a key piece of equipment and recommended to the customer that it be replaced as soon as possible.  The customer asked the technician to have someone get in touch with him with pricing and installation information for the replacement.  The technician reported the opportunity on the work order along with the request for a follow-up call by the salesperson responsible for the account.  Unknown to the service tech, the information did not get to the salesperson and no one followed up.  About a month later, the customer called in a panic because the equipment failed, just as foretold.  Rather than praising the technician for his ability to predict the failure, the customer was furious that there was no follow-up on the part of the firm.  The service technician took the brunt of the customer’s anger and felt let down by his colleagues.  Needless to say, by the time we spoke to the technician, he was reluctant to identify opportunities in the future.

Even when a process for opportunity management is in place, it may not include an important step.  One of the most common complaints we hear from technicians is that, even when there is follow-up, the technician is not kept in the loop.  The lack of a communication loop to keep the technician informed causes more than hard feelings.  It also can cause a customer service failure.  Let’s assume that the technician has spoken to the customer and they are interested in pursuing an idea that she brought forward that may reduce energy consumption.  The salesperson or manager is duly informed and goes out to visit the customer.  If there is no communication back to the technician, the salesperson may develop a solution that is beyond what the technician had in mind and far exceeds the customer’s expectations.  A simple discussion with the technician would have prevented this from happening and the technician would have an opportunity to share her ideas with the salesperson that could be incorporated into the ultimate solution.  In addition, by keeping the technician in the loop, the technician will have an informed response if the customer asks about the progress on the opportunity development the next time she is in their facility.

A key step therefore, to ensure that you create a successful and lasting Proactive Service® culture is to ensure that you have a clear, concise and consistent process for identifying and following-up on recommendations from the field.  Not only will this improve your service delivery, but it will let your technicians (and customers) know that these recommendations are important and that they play a key role in your firm’s the overall service delivery.

I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature here on the site. If you are reading this blog post via email, you will need to locate this post on my website by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find the comment section.

Jim

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”

– Peter Drucker

 

 

 

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Step 2 in Creating Proactive Service® – Knowing Customers’ Business Goals

Jim Baston improve customer serviceIn the first blog in this series, we talked about the first step to create a Proactive Service® focus for your field service team. The second step involves encouraging them to get to know your customers’ business goals.  At first glance this may seem a bit off of the beaten path of the technical nature of their job, but it is critical in providing a higher level of service.  A technician who understands the business goals and challenges faced by the customer will be attuned to opportunities to help their customers achieve them.

Without knowing the goals of the customer, how can our technicians make valuable recommendations?  A solution that works for one company might be contrary to the needs of another.  There is a wonderful story circulating around the Internet that illustrates the danger of solving problems without understanding the business goals.  Perhaps you have read it.  It goes something like this. Read more

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Creating the Service Experience Part 2 – CMCEF Webinar Series

CMCEF LOGO I am pleased to share information about the next webinar in the CMCEF Webinar Series  Transforming the Service Experience called Creating the Service Experience which will take place Tuesday, February 12th, 2013.   This webinar will examine the challenges of transforming the service experience and discuss how these challenges can be addressed to ensure success.  At the end of this seminar, participants will understand the challenges they will likely have to confront when transforming their own service experience and can use this information to create a plan to address them within their own firms. I hope you can attend!

This follows the first in the webinar series that took place on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, where I presented on Defining the Service Experience.  We focused on the five key steps that technicians can take to transform the service experience that you create for your customers.  The five key steps our technicians can take are:

Read more

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Transforming Your Customer’s Service Experience

customer service expertWelcome to my new Baston’s Blog – Transforming the Service Experience!   Baston’s blog is a regular resource of ideas, tools and strategies to help you transform the service experience you are providing to your customers and reap the resulting rewards – rewards that include higher revenues and profitability and increased customer satisfaction and retention.

Thank you for signing up.  I understand that your time is precious and that there are lots of blogs out there to choose from.  My goal, therefore, is to make this a valuable and entertaining resource that you will look forward to receiving and hopefully pass on to your friends and colleagues.  Your input will help me keep on track and relevant to the challenges that you are facing at the moment. You will find the signup for the blog in the side widget to the right. Please make sure you follow the instructions carefully to ensure you receive your posts in your inbox.

I hope you find this blog of value and I look forward to your comments. Don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one, via the commentluv feature you’ll find in the comment section.

Beyond GREAT SERVICE – The Technician’s Role in Proactive Business Growth

 “The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important – and then get out of their way while they do it.”

– Jack Welch

I wrote a book this year called Beyond GREAT SERVICE.  It is written as a fictional account about Charlie, a service manager, as he discovers the secret of successfully engaging technicians in conversations with their customers – a conversation that transforms the service experience and results in increased revenues and customer satisfaction.  Many people have asked me why I have written the book and, to answer that, I will need to take a small step back.

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